ABSTRACT
Fresh and dried flowers are used in medicines, the pollen is used against epilepsy, and the flowers are used to scent perfumes. Mediterranean use goes back at least 5000 years when Lilium was drawn on Minoan (Crete) frescos (Simpson and Conner-Ogorzaly 1995). This lily is probably the “Rose of Sharon” of the Bible, and has been in cultivation since 1500 B.C. With the spread of the Christian religion, the lily was associated with the Virgin Mary and became incorporated into many religious pictures. The species is now known as the “Annunciation lily” (based on the 25 March Catholic festival of the Virgin Mary), “Madonna lily,” or “Bourbon lily” (de Cleene and Lejeune 2002).
